It been 20 years since the U.S.
Department of Justice and 20 state attorneys general sued Microsoft for violating federal antitrust laws.
The government argued that Microsoft illegally protected its Windows monopoly and used it to try to kill competitors to Internet Explorer, notably Netscape.
The suit also charged that the company used its operating system muscle to target Apple, Lotus Software, RealNetworks, Linux and others.In late 1999, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled against Microsoft.
A lot has changed since then, but how much of that change is due to that landmark rulingBefore the suit, Microsoft was the world most influential technology company, with Windows essentially a monopoly in operating systems, Microsoft Office a monopoly in productivity suites and Internet Explorer a top browser.